Cake and Smiles
by Felicity Dream
Summary: Izuku's neighbor doesn't age. But he's always there for Izuku, and cheers him up when he needs it. Too bad he wasn't who he seemed. (Now a three-shot)
1. Cake and Smiles

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own My Hero Academia, its characters, or the franchise.  
Story: Izuku's neighbor doesn't age. But he's always there for Izuku, and cheers him up when he needs it. Too bad he wasn't who he seemed.  
Set as a slight AU to canon.  
Spoilers: Most definitely for all seasons.  
Warnings: Age disparity  
Pairings: Izuku/All For One

 **Cake and Smiles**

Izuku is four when the apartment across from his is moved into by a man with no hair, an excess of scars on th top of his head, and a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes that aren't actually there. They meet on the stairwell and Izuku gives him the biggest smile he can.

"Hello!"

The man smiles slightly and ruffles his hair, but just passes him by to enter his apartment. Izuku goes into his and greets his mom.

"I'm back, Mom. Did you know we have a new neighbor?"

He doesn't know who he is, but he seems nice enough. Izuku wants to ask if he had a Quirk or what was it —would he answer, would he get annoyed, would he —

"Izuku, remember to be polite!"

"Yes, Mom!"

Izuku would just have to find time to talk to him.

It's a week later and Izuku's cheeks hurt. They hurt so bad, but Izuku can't stop smiling. He knows if he did, then he'd cry and fall apart and his mom doesn't need that. She is already feeling bad and he has to cheer her up. Even if he is still crying, he can at least keep smiling for her.

On the stairway, he and his mother stand at the top, quiet and sniffling together. He hears a noise and he looks up to see the man from before. He knows he is crying like a baby, but he still gives him a wide smile.

"Hello."

It isn't as loud as his first greeting, but it's okay. So Izuku grabs his softly crying mom's hand and leads her to their apartment. The two of them can cry better in there.

That's why, as his favorite All Might video plays in the background, he is surprised to hear the doorbell. Gently letting his mother onto the floor while getting off of the chair, Izuku hesitantly heads to the door and unlocks it. His new neighbor stands there, holding a decorative cake box.

"Hello," he finally says back and his voice is warm and deep and makes Izuku feel safe. "You looked sad, so I thought I'd bring over some cake to cheer you up."

Izuku bursts into tears. "I don't have a Quirk!"

His neighbor may be a stranger, but he doesn't know Izuku and he just wants to cry and not smile any more. So if he is pushed into the apartment and finds himself sitting at the table with a slice of cake in front of him and across his neighbor, Izuku is just four and didn't care anymore.

"Being Quirkless is fine," he tells him gently. "You shouldn't be upset." And Izuku can feel himself sort of _preen a_ nd almost forgets the doctor said he doesn't have a Quirk. "Once upon a time, my brother didn't have a Quirk. But I loved him all the same."

Izuku wishes someone would love Quirkless him like that.

 _When Inko wakes, she sees her boy talking animatedly to this stranger, who sits and listens to him patiently, with a strange smile on his face. Inko wants to cry again, because her boy doesn_ _'t look so devastated any more._

* * *

He tells Izuku his name is Hisato. His Quirk lets him live for a long time.

" _You can call me Hisato, Izuku-kun. It means 'a long-lived person' or 'one with a long life'. If fits, hm?"_

" _Eh? But how old are you, Hisato-san?"_

" _Over 200 years old~"_

" _What? No way!"_

He lives alone in his apartment, but he doesn't seem lonely. Izuku _does_ know he's a bit frail and sometimes, when Izuku comes to visit him, he has a respirator and a bunch of tubes attached to him. Hisato even has a really scary mask that he sometimes uses, that helps him when he's up and about for a long while.

But what is really important is that Hisato would always be there whenever Izuku felt bad, and have some cake ready to cheer him up.

" _Smile, Izuku-kun. I really like your smiles. It was the first thing I noticed about you."_

* * *

Izuku is eleven when he realizes —no, _accepts_ —that Kacchan is no longer his friend (or had ever really been).

His arm hurts and is even a little bloody, but he hides it from his mom when he comes home from school. He hates upsetting and worrying her, so this was the kind of thing he could cover up. Instead, he goes to the apartment across from him and knocks. And when the door opens to reveal Hisasto, Izuku just smiles sheepishly, even with tiny tears in his eyes.

"Hisato-san, can you help with my arm?"

Hisato's missing eyes still seem to bore into him, but he takes Izuku into his apartment and feeds him cake from a new bakery, fixes his arm, and smiles slightly at him while waiting for a smile back.

Izuku smiles brightly and forgets about Kacchan, burns and broken arms.

* * *

When Izuku is fourteen, he desperately wants to graduate and become a Hero.

But he's just a Quirkless nobody.

" _Who cares if you're Quirkless? And you're not a nobody."_

When he meets All Might and is told that he can be a Hero, he's excited and tells Hisato of the day's events. He doesn't imagine the frown or the furrow in between Hisato's sightless eyes, but he doesn't ask. Instead, he remembers Kacchan's words from earlier and finds himself blurting things out.

Hisato's hand is heavy on Izuku's head and it almost feels like penance.

"If you ever jump or do something so reckless, I won't ever forgive you."

Izuku's eyes are wide and Hisato's face forbidding, but it's gone quickly and Hisato smiles widely, moving to present a lemon cream cake.

"Izuku, call me Junichiro from now on."

He doesn't learn until later that it means "He Who Takes" and even later how fitting that is.

* * *

After going to U.A. for a while and dealing with so many insane events, Izuku doesn't have a chance to really keep in touch with Junichiro (It feels strange to change from Hisato to Junichiro, and he didn't ask why but figures it has something to do with living for so long and becoming bored with things.) He misses him, but so much has been happening.

It's in Kamino Ward where they reunite.

When the blast happens, Izuku is disoriented. The killer intent shoves him down, but he's capable enough to turn and see the cause of the blast. He almost wishes he'd passed out. He almost does because _why is Junichiro here_?

Izuku almost can't recognize him because this man is _powerful_ and _terrifying_. He doesn't resemble Hisa — _Junichiro_ , the man who cheered him up with cake of all the different sizes and flavors. This is..this is…

 _Izuku is fifteen when he realizes the man he_ _'s in love with is a villain._

* * *

In the aftermath, Izuku doesn't know what he's feeling. His heart is heavy with emotion, both for All Might, his beloved mentor, and All For One, the villain who he's secretly loved for years. All Might comforts him on the beach and they renew their bond and will continue on together —but his mind is filled with All For One.

All For One who wasn't All For One…but was Hisato and then Junichiro to him. He doesn't understand why he was blessed and cursed with this man.

The emotions won't stop putting him in a crazy whirl and only gets worse when Detective Naomasa shows up to the dorms with a stoic face and a box of Black Forest cake. Dread grips his gut and he stares blankly at the box and then the detective.

"He asked that I get this cake and deliver it to you."

Naomasa rummages in his coat pocket and retrieves a camera.

"He also asked me to ask you if he could see you smile one last time. Since he's not allowed any visitors…" He shook the camera.

Izuku swallows and tries not to cry. He fails. So instead, he accepts the cake from Naomasa and smiles brightly through his tears. It's just one last smile and cake to go after all.

 _The card on the box reads Hideyoshi and Izuku wonders if it_ _'s just yet another of his names in his long-lived life, like Izuku is just another person to pass time on._

"He was specific in what cake and where I would get it from," Naomasa says quietly, taking the cake, cutting it up, and offering company all at once. "He's pretty meticulous when it came to you."

Izuku unwillingly ponders that before glancing at the camera in the detective's hand. Izuku almost bites it back, but… "Can we take another picture?"

This time, Izuku is holding out a plate of the cake like he was offering it, and smiles brightly just like how Hideyoshi liked.

 _His heart still hurts, but he always does his best when smiling._

Started 8/23/18 – Completed 8/24/18

 **A/n: Hm, a bit short, but I like how this came out. Hope you guys did too!**


	2. Don't Run Out of Time

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own My Hero Academia, its characters, or the franchise.  
Story: Izuku's neighbor doesn't age. But he's always there for Izuku, and cheers him up when he needs it. Too bad he wasn't who he seemed.  
Set as a slight AU to canon.  
Spoilers: Most definitely for all seasons.  
Warnings: Age disparity  
Pairings: Izuku/All For One

 **Cake and Smiles  
** _II: Don't Run Out of Time_

Naomasa has been a detective for a while. He'd like to think he'd become a good one over the years too. He's also seen a lot of things in those years. Just…nothing like this.

All For One is out of the metal contraption that they had put him, but hasn't left the cell or moved from his spot on the floor where he'd sat himself at, phone in hand as he agitatedly looks through it.

"You obviously are capable of leaving here on your own," Naomasa says suddenly and he sees All For One pause. "Why are you still here?"

"Because I want to," All For One drawls in boredom, scarred head crinkling as he looks up at Naomasa. He gives him a twisted smile. "What do I owe this visit?"

"You're out of your confines," Naomasa says blandly, giving him a cold look.

All For One shrugs casually. "I was getting itchy and bored, and I wanted my phone."

Naomasa draws himself to his full height, but he isn't unaware that All For One would still be taller than him if he'd stand up. But he's trying for whatever intimidation factor he can at the moment, especially since he knows full well that All For One could kill everyone there in a flash.

And there isn't All Might there to save them.

"Obviously, there's a play you want to go for," Naomasa fingers the phone in his pocket, debating on speed dialing Toshinori. "I know you're up to something."

"But can you do something about it, even if I were?" All For One's smile grows large and wicked, and Naomasa grits his teeth because he knows the other is far more in control of this situation than he should be.

But then All For One's face suddenly shudders into a blank facade and he eerily stares Naomasa down.

"I want something," he says firmly and he suddenly stands, putting a cold fear into Naomasa, one that he struggles not to show.

"Why should I care?" he dares to say and All For One merely smiles calmly at him.

"Because you know I'll kill everyone in this building."

He does know that. He's afraid of that actually. But he doesn't want to give into this man who's lived far longer than he should, who has tortured and killed so many, and who has tormented his friend Toshinori for as long as either of them could remember.

All For One isn't someone to be trifled with.

"And what exactly do you want?" he spits out.

All For One's smile becomes less calm and a little sad. Naomasa blinks. He hadn't expected that.

"I want a Black Forest cake," the villain says simply.

It flabbergasts Naomasa, who expects something more dastardly. But the other's expression doesn't change and there is no joking manner showing in All For One at all.

He's serious.

"That's…it?" he asks suspiciously.

"That's all," All For One says nonchalantly, casually going back to sitting on the floor and focusing on his phone, ignoring the detective.

Naomasa purses his lips. It is simple and not harmful to anyone, and doesn't require much effort or money. A dessert isn't likely to cause world devastation.

So he relents and has one of his subordinates go buy a Black Forest cake.

Hopefully this little task saves everyone there.

* * *

When he presents the cake in the box to All For One, even if the man has no eyes, Naomasa can sense the man's displeasure rolling off him in waves.

"It smells and will taste of plastic," All For One says, and even if his voice is neutral, Naomasa isn't blind to the irritation.

"You ask for a Black Forest cake and here it is," Naomasa doesn't budge.

And then, like a physical manifestation, he can feel a massive force of malevolence pushing down on him and leaves him gasping. He stares at All For One, who is unchanging and staring at him with sightless eyes.

"Try again," All For One says calmly, which is a lie. Naomasa knows it is.

The villain turns his back on Naomasa and leaves him there, panting and trying to steady himself on his feet. He shudders and closes his eyes, trying to overcome his shaking body and his shot nerves.

There is a lot he has to think about.

* * *

Naomasa peers around the bakery, noting the extravagant decor.

"Can I help you?" One of the employees approaches him with a polite smile.

"Do you sell Black Forest cakes here?" he asks, feeling ridiculous.

"We have none on hand at the moment, but we can custom bake one for you?"

Naomasa nods. "Thank you. I'd like to pick it up tomorrow morning."

And when he picks it up, it's as extravagant as the bakery and in a box with a gold sheen and a pretty silver bow. He doesn't expect the curl of All For One's lips or the disdainful look the villain casts on the new cake.

"It's better than last time," he says so. "But then expensive isn't always better."

It drives Naomasa mad and lights a fire in his belly. He sneers at All For One, but determination fills him.

More careful and selective, Naomasa finds himself going bakery to bakery. He even goes to stores and cafés. He feels himself getting picky, before his mind checks him and he wonders why is he even doing this. A more frustrated part of himself questions why the hell is All For One being so particular. But _he_ _'s_ being particular now too, and it's not all because All For One keeps rejecting the cakes he chooses, so he has no room to question this.

But then he stumbles onto a quiet, quaint bakery that is hidden away on the streets of Kamino Ward, and tastes the Black Forest cake being made there. It's rich and delicious and he feels like _this is the one_.

He finishes his slice and orders a full cake to go. On a whim, he takes one of those little cards you put your name on and jokingly thinks he'll sign it and place it on the box to give to All For One. In the end, he doesn't.

When he faces All For One again, he watches the man meticulously inspect the cake, including the box (which confuses him).

"This one's acceptable," All For One declares with a grave tone (he doesn't understand the seriousness either). Still, an acceptable from _him_ means it's good.

"I would like you to deliver this to Midoriya Izuku."

He freezes and Naomasa doesn't know what he was expecting, but it isn't this. He glares at All For One and demands, "Why?"

He knows that boy and how sweet and passionate he is through his own meetings with him (Why else is Izuku allowed to call him Detective Naomasa and not Detective Tsukuachi?) and through Toshinori. He's frustrated with himself and realizes he never should have gone along with this.

"I met a four year old boy eleven years ago," All For One suddenly starts. It's there again, that grave tone. "The first thing he does is smile brightly at me, when I'm hideous and scarred. This child is full of sunshine and smiles. It's been a long time since someone has smiled at me, you know. Centuries. It was my brother and eventually even he stopped smiling at me."

Naomasa stays quiet, frozen to his spot. All For One's sightless eyes bores into him.

"I watched Izuku grow up, integrated himself into my life seamlessly, just like I had his. I was there when he was hurt and bullied, when he first found out he was Quirkless, and when that imbecile All Might shared that damnable Quirk and became his mentor. I was the only friend he had for the longest time. Whenever he was upset, I was there with cake for him and he'd smile back. I'm well aware he was there during that fight," Naomasa knows _exactly_ what fight, "and I know he knows who I am now. _That_ cake is my apology to him and any attempt to cheer him up like I used to. Take care with it, _Detective_."

The threat in All For One's voice at the end isn't imagined. Naomasa gives a confirming nod, knowing Toshinori would protest and rally against all of this vehemently.

"And Detective," All For One stops him from leaving. He stiffens, not sure what else the villain wants. But the atmosphere shifts to a calmer, solemn moment, and All For One asks politely, "Ask him for a smile. One last one, won't you?"

Naomasa is caught off guard and stares at the man pretending to be locked up. He doesn't answer and leaves quickly.

* * *

He's at the UA dorms where Izuku stays and they eat that cake together. He remembers Izuku looking at the card attached to the box and remembers the name _Hideyoshi_ on it, knowing All For One somehow signed it. The camera he brought along is heavy in his pocket, more because of the smiles hidden in it for a man who doesn't deserve them. He doesn't know why he brought it either, only that a part of him decided that he wants the villain to have a physical reminder of that one last smile from a boy he never would have thought would've meant so much to a man like All For One.

Naomasa takes another look at a silent, sweet boy with a precious smile and makes a decision.

* * *

He faces All For One later that night and frowns.

"What cake were you thinking of next? Because you owe him a lot of apologies."

His Quirk tests the lies and sincerity out of the person and from the beginning All For One has been nothing but sincere.

Maybe that's why he hadn't been able to let this go until he'd hand delivered an apology cake to Midoriya Izuku to cheer him up.

Started 10/26/18 — Completed 10/30/18

 **A/n: So this is going to end up being a three-shot thing. I hope everyone enjoyed this and please remember to review! And if you don't like, then don't harass me, like some people have on my EnDeku fic. Just leave the pairing alone, alright?**


	3. Sweet Happenstance

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own My Hero Academia, its characters, or the franchise.  
Story: Izuku's neighbor doesn't age. But he's always there for Izuku, and cheers him up when he needs it. Too bad he wasn't who he seemed.  
Set as a slight AU to canon.  
Spoilers: Most definitely for all seasons.  
Warnings: Age disparity  
Pairings: Izuku/All For One

 **Cake and Smiles  
** _III: Sweet Happenstance_

All For One has lived for a very long time. He's seen and experienced many things, met many people. But nothing has been quite like meeting Midoriya Izuku and watching him grow up.

Izuku had been a little boy when they first met, all smiles and sweetness just for him, despite the fact All For One knew he looked horrific. Then Izuku grew up and even became attached to and reliant on All For One; and it wasn't like Tomura, who though All For One had genuinely grown fond of, he still remembers and keeps in mind his successor's role in things.

Izuku is…a surprise. An unexpected but surprisingly wonderful surprise.

Such sweet smiles that he hasn't seen given to him since his brother had. And even that is tainted because his beloved brother eventually stopped giving him those sweet smiles and then ended up backstabbing him after everything he'd done for him…

Ah, but ironically it is All For One with the backstabbing this time. Once again, he's going to be losing out on sweet smiles made just for him, because in the end he was always going to end up the villain in Izuku's story.

He remembers every instance where Izuku has been hurt, has cried, has _bled_ …Any time Izuku has been upset, All For One has been there with cake and occasionally a smile from himself. He's always been the one there for Izuku, long before that idiotic All Might had launched himself into Izuku's life.

It was always All For One who's been there.

A part of him is agitated and angry —why should he lose Izuku, just because he was —is —a villain?! Did Izuku ever know about that in all the years he's known All For One? Had that ever affected him?

But he thinks of deceit and lies and betrayal, and he is all this and more to Izuku.

Yet he's still in turmoil and he's actually in agony because of all this. He's over two hundred years old and he's become bored with life, and is both cynical and indifferent and bored and angry with the world. He can't make up his mind whether he likes to fuck with it and the natural order of things, or he genuinely wants to change this stagnant piece of shit world into an image he wants to mold —and Izuku had been a welcome change in the midst of all that. He'd found himself genuinely happy and whenever he'd been around the boy, nothing else mattered and he's alive again and not stuck in a perpetual purgatory of his own making.

Too many years, centuries has gone by, and Izuku is the one moment of happenstance that changed everything for All For One.

' _It's agony,'_ he repeats in his mind. _'Absolute agony.'_

"Should I ask what's going through your head?" Tsukauchi asks warily.

All For One barely gives him a glance. "Did he like the cake?" he asks simply.

"He did," Tsukauchi actually gives him a straight answer. "Do you regret it?"

"Regret what?"

"Meeting him?"

All For One scoffs. "Of course not."

"Do you regret lying to him about who you are?" Tsukauchi asks rather aggressively and he raises a non-existent eyebrow, debating taunting him instead of answering.

But a flash of a sweet smile goes through his mind and he finds himself answering sincerely. "No. If I hadn't, would he have stayed with me for as long as he had and given me all those smiles?"

"I don't know. But I'd like to think I would have."

And he startles and looks to where he hears Izuku's voice coming from. He holds a box All For One knows holds something sweet, and if it's between them, it's probably a cake. The two of them are sentimental like that.

All For One doesn't know how he misses Izuku's presence, but now that he focuses, he can tell that aside from himself and Izuku, Tsukauchi is still there and All Might lurks in the background. Izuku steps closer to him and sits at a table that All For One notices has been laid out. He cautiously gets out of his restraints and comes closer to the table. What limited vision he has reveals the Black Forest cake revealed in the box and he sits at the table to admire it. It's simply done, but he can already tell from the smell it'll taste good.

"I made it," Izuku blurts out, which makes this cake even more special. All Might is glaring hatefully at him from somewhere and he can literally feel the hate and anger directed at him, but nothing can ruin this. "I thought I'd make this one since it's the first one you'd given to me after I'd found out the truth…and-and the first cake from you after I realized I was in love with you."

Affection and possessiveness rolls through him and he wants nothing more than to take Izuku away and be somewhere where it's just them.

Izuku takes a bit of cake with a plastic fork, which they all know All For One is still capable of using that to kill everyone, and eats it before handing the fork to All For One. He mimics the gesture and amusingly thinks of domesticity and normal sweethearts.

The two of them are far from normal and eating cake together in a maximum prison cell is hardly romantic…but…

"Anytime you're upset, come here," he says gently. "I'll find a way to get a cake we can share."

And Izuku smiles at him. It's not one of his usual bright smiles, but it's not one of those sad, heartbreaking ones Tsukauchi had photographed for him. It _is_ a smile though, and it's a smile for _him_.

"Thank you, Hideyoshi."

His heart —it's amazing he still has one —stills and he watches Izuku with sightless eyes. He finds himself smiling back unexpectedly, pleased to hear a name he hadn't cared for or used for centuries, until he'd signed a small, little card that was attached to an apology cake.

But it's _his_ name and Izuku had used it and acknowledged him, and maybe just maybe he can be Hideyoshi again. Even if it's just for Izuku.

He still wants the world to collapse in on itself, but Izuku is part of it and maybe he could adjust his plans a bit.

Started 11/6/18 — Completed 11/6/18

 **A/n: And that's it! Hope you guys enjoyed the ride. I may or may not revisit this 'verse with side stories, but I doubt it? It's more or less finished in any case :D I'm glad everyone has enjoyed the last two chapters, even with the strange pairing! Please remember to review!**

* * *

 **Quick Points:**

 **1\. If you'd like to request something you want to see happen in this 'verse, you're welcome to suggest it. I may take a crack at it. Or you know, you can write it. I wouldn't mind~**

 **2\. Current BNHA fics as of 11/8:** " **Advent of a Heroine** " (main), " **Don't Want to Touch You (But You're Under My Skin)** " (Main EnDeku), " **Miss You Like Crazy** " (EnDeku Soulmate series), " **Cake and Smiles** " (AFOIzu, became a three-shot), an exclusive Ao3 EnDeku smut fic called " **A Wolf in My Heart** " (done for Kinktober), and a new EnDeku fic called " **Miles in Your Mind** ". I also have an EnDeku one-shot probably going to be published tomorrow, called " **A Little Sugar & Honey**". Please check them out~


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